Playing Wii games from a USB stick (with pictures)

This wikiHow teaches you how to play a Wii game from a file stored on a USB stick instead of a disc. Keep in mind that this works on the classic Wii, but not the Wii U. Playing a game from a USB stick requires you to install Homebrew on your Wii, which will void your Wii's warranty and violate the warranty. Nintendo Terms of Use. After you have installed all the necessary items, you can burn the contents of a disc to your flash drive, after which you can play the game from the flash drive instead of the disc.

Steps

Part 1 of 7: Preparing the installation

Step 1. Make sure you have the right gear

You will need the following items for this task:

• SDHC Card - An SD card of up to eight gigabytes is needed to install Homebrew and perform other tasks with files.
• USB stick - This is the drive where you install the games.
• Wii Remote - If you have a newer (black) Wii model, you will need a general purpose Wii Remote to help with setup.

Step 2. Format your flash drive for FAT32

To do this, select FAT32 (or MS-DOS (FAT) on a Mac) in the 'File System' section of the format menu.

Keep in mind that formatting a flash drive will erase its contents, so back up the contents to your computer or another flash drive if necessary

Step 3. Empty the Wii's disk drive

If there is currently a disc in the Wii, please remove it before proceeding.

Step 4. Connect your Wii to the Internet

Your Wii needs a network connection to install most of the USB tool's files.

Step 5. Install Homebrew on your Wii

If you have not yet installed the Homebrew Channel for your Wii, you must do so before proceeding. The Homebrew channel allows you to install mods, one of which allows you to play games from a USB stick.

Step 6. Format your SD card

Once you have installed Homebrew using the SD card, you will need to erase it so that you can use it for the USB installation files. The easiest way to do this is to format the SD card.

• As with the flash drive, you choose FAT32 (or MS-DOS (FAT) on a Mac) as the file system.

Part 2 of 7: Making a Wii flash drive

Step 1. Use a Windows computer for this section

Unfortunately, on a Mac, you cannot properly format your flash drive for a Wii. If you don't have access to a Windows computer, try using a publicly available PC or ask a friend to do it for you.

Step 2. Determine the number of bits of your Windows installation

You need to know whether your version of Windows is a 64-bit system or a 32-bit system to know which file to download next.

Step 3. Go to the download page for WBFS

The following links are for the 64-bit and 32-bit versions of WBFS Manager for Windows:

• WBFS Manager 64-Bit Windows
• WBFS Manager 32-Bit Windows

Step 4. Click Free Download

It's the green button in the top right corner.

Watch out for pop-ups and be careful not to click on download links to software you didn't intend to download

Step 5. Click Start Download

It's the green button in the middle of the page. This will download a zip file containing the setup file for WBFS-Manager.

Step 6. Open the ZIP folder

Double click on the downloaded ZIP folder to open it.

Step 7. Double click on setup.exe

It is located in the ZIP folder. This will open the setup window.

Step 8. Install the program

Use the following steps to install WBFS Manager:

• click on Next one.
• click on To leaf through to choose an installation location (optional).
• click on Next one.
• click on Next one.
• click on Yes.
• click on Close.

Step 9. Plug your flash drive into your computer

The flash drive should fit into one of your computer's rectangular USB ports.

Step 10. Open WBFS Manager

To do this, double-click the WBFS Manager app icon, which resembles a Wii on a blue background. You can find it in your Windows Start menu.

• The first time you open WBFS-Manager, you must press Yes click to give it access to your system.

Step 11. Select your flash drive

Click the 'Drive' drop-down menu in the top left corner of the window, then click your drive letter (usually F:).

If you don't know the letter of the flash drive, find it in the 'Devices and drives' group of 'This PC'

Step 12. Click Format

This will format your USB stick for use with the Nintendo Wii.

Step 13. Eject the flash drive

Click the flash drive icon at the bottom right of the screen, then click Eject in the pop-up menu and remove the drive from your computer.

• You may be on here ^ must click to see the flash drive icon.

Part 3 of 7: Downloading the installation files

Step 1. Insert your SD card into your computer

The SD card should fit into your computer's SD card slot with the bevel inward and the logo facing up.

If your computer does not have an SD card slot, you will need a USB adapter for your SD card

Step 2. Open the file download site

Visit https://app.box.com/s/ztl5x4vlw56thgk1n4wlx147v8rsz6vt with your browser.

Step #3. Click Download

It's the button in the top right corner of the screen. This will download the ZIP file USB Loader GX.

Step 4. Extract the files

On a Windows computer, double-click the ZIP folder, click Unpacking at the top of the folder window, click Unpack everything in the toolbar that appears, then tap Unpacking when requested. This will extract the files to a regular folder and open the folder when the extraction is complete.

On a Mac, double-click the ZIP folder to open it

Step 5. Open the 'Files' folder

Double click on the folder USB Loader GX and then double click on the folder Traffic jams at the top of the next window.

Step 6. Copy all the files in the 'Files' folder

Click on a file in the folder, click on Ctrl + A' (Windows) or Command + A (Mac) to select all files, then press ctr + C (Windows) or Command + C (Mac) to copy the files.

Step 7. Click on the name of your SD card

It's on the left side of the window in Windows Explorer or on a Mac in Finder.

Step 8. Paste the files

Click on an empty space in the SD card window, then press Ctrl + V (Windows) or Command + (Mac). The files are copied to the SD card.

Step 9. Eject the card

Once the files have been copied, you can proceed with removing the SD card. You do this as follows:

• Windows - Right-click the drive in the panel on the left and click Eject.
• Mac - Click the upward-facing arrow to the right of your SD card's name in the panel on the left.

Part 4 of 7: Installing the IOS263 software

Step 1. Insert your SD card into your Wii

The card should fit into a slot on the front of the Wii.

Step 2. Turn on your Wii

Press the power button on your Wii, or use the power button on the remote.

The Wii Remote must also be turned on and in sync

Step #3. Press A when prompted

This will take you to the main menu.

Step 4. Start the Homebrew Channel

Select The homebrew channel from your Wii's main menu, and select Start when requested.

Step 5. Select IOS263 Installer

This is in the middle of the menu. A pop-up menu will appear.

Step 6. Select Load when prompted

You'll find this option in the middle, at the bottom of the pop-up menu.

Step 7. Press the button

Step 1

This selects the option to install.

• If you are using a GameCube controller, press the Y knob.

Step 8. Select

This is at the bottom of the page.

• If you don't see this option, select the text in brackets at the bottom of the screen and press Right until you see him appear.

Step 9. Press A when prompted

Doing this will install the base of IOS263 on your Wii. This process can take more than 20 minutes, so please be patient.

Step 10. Press any button when prompted

This will exit the setup and take you back to the Homebrew menu.

Part 5 of 7: Installing the cIOSX Rev20b software

Step 1. Start the Homebrew channel

Select The homebrew channel from your Wii's main menu, then select Start when requested.

Step 2. Select cIOSX rev20b Installer

It's in the middle of the Homebrew menu.

Step 3. Select Load when prompted

The installation window menu will open.

Step 4. Slide to the left, to the option 'IOS236'

This selects the IOS236 file you installed earlier.

Step 5. Press A

This confirms your choice.

Step 6. Agree to the Terms of Use

Press a on your controller to agree to the terms of use.

Step 7. Select an iOS version

Press Left until you see 'IOS56 v5661' in parentheses; then press a.

Step 8. Select a custom IOS lock

Press Left until you see "IOS249" in parentheses, then press a.

Step 9. Select a network installation

Press Left until you see "Network Setup" appear in the brackets.

Step 10. Start the installation

Press a to begin installing the IOS installer.

Step 11. Press any button when prompted

This will take you to the next part of the installation.

Step 12. Select another IOS version

Press Left until you see "IOS38 v4123" in the brackets, then press a.

Step 13. Select another lock

Press Left until you see 'IOS250' in the brackets, then press a.

Step 14. Use the network installer

Select 'Network setup' and press a as you did with the last installer, wait for the installation to complete.

Step 15. Press any button when prompted, then press the B button

This will reboot your Wii. When it's done rebooting, you can move on.

Part 6 of 7: Installing USB Loader GX

Step #1. Navigate to the next page

To do this, press the arrow Right on the D-pad of your Wii Remote.

• You can also click on the + button.

Step 2. Select WAD Manager

It is the second option on this page.

Step 3. Select Load when prompted

This will launch the WAD Manager installer.

Step 4. Press A

By doing so, you agree to the terms of use.

Step 5. Select 'IOS249' to load

Press Left until you see 'IOS249' in parentheses, then press a.

Step 6. Disable the emulator

Select 'Disable' in the brackets and press a.

Step 7. Select your SD card

Select 'Wii SD Slot' in the brackets and then press a. This will list the files on the SD card you inserted earlier.

Step 8. Scroll down and select WAD

This is at the bottom of the screen.

Step 9. Select the USB charger

Scroll down and select USB Loader GX-UNEO_Forwarder.wad and press a.

Step 10. Install the WAD Manager

Press a when requested.

Step 11. Press any button when prompted and then press the Home ⌂ button

This will reboot the Wii. Once the Wii has finished rebooting, you will be returned to the second page of the Homebrew Channel.

Part 7 of 7: Playing games from the USB drive

Step 1. Press the Home ⌂ button again

It's on the Wii Remote. Pressing it will bring up the Home menu.

Step #2. Select Exit

This is located at the bottom of the menu. Your Wii will now turn off.

It's best to wait for your Wii to completely shut down before continuing

Step 3. Insert your flash drive into the Wii

The flash drive must be plugged into a USB port on the back of the Wii.

Step 4. Turn your Wii back on

To do this, press the power button on your Wii.

Step 5. Press A when prompted

This will take you to the Wii Home Menu, where you will now have an option USB Loader GX to the right of the Homebrew channel.

Step 6. Select USB Loader GX

This option is on the right side of the page.

Step 7. Select Start

This will load the USB Loader GX program.

• This process will take a few minutes, especially the first time you run the program.
• If you see a message like "Waiting for your slow USB", try the USB stick in a different port on the back of the Wii.

Step 8. Put a game in the disc drive

Insert the disc into the Wii for a game you want to burn to the USB stick.

Step 9. Select Install when prompted

The program will start reading the contents of the disc.

Step 10. Select OK when prompted

When you do this, your Wii will begin burning the disc to the USB stick.

This process will take some time, and the burn progress bar may appear to freeze at several points. Do not remove your USB stick or reboot your Wii if this happens

Step 11. Choose OK when prompted

This will complete the burn.

At this point, you can eject the game disc from the Wii

Step 12. Play your game

Click on the name of the game and then on the spinning disc icon in the middle of the window. This will start the game.

Tips

• Consider using an external hard drive for better storage capacity.
• Wii games typically take up about 2GB per title, so plan accordingly when buying a flash drive.
• On the USB Loader GX main page, you can click the

  Step 1. button to update the cover art for each game on the flash drive.

Warnings

• Do not turn off the Wii while installing anything mentioned in this article.
• The illegal copying of games is against Nintendo's terms of use as well as against the law in general.